Religious groups respond to Stonewall with ‘Ex-Gay, Get Over It’ London bus adverts
Religious groups have responded to Stonewall’s current bus advertising campaign in favour of gay equality with a campaign of their own, defending the view that gay people can become straight.
A press notice from Anglican Mainstream and the Core Issues Trust said Stonewall’s bus campaign “implies the false idea that there is indisputable scientific evidence that people are ‘born gay’, and that they have no choice but to affirm their homosexual feelings”.
It described Stonewall’s iconic ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’ slogan devised by Simon Gage as an “attempt to close down critical debate about being gay and marriage ‘equality’” and said the “promotion of homosexual practices to children and young people, many of whom are known to experience ambivalence as they sort through issues of sexual identity, is misleading and dangerous”.
While it “recognise the rights of individuals to identify as gay”, it says “married men and women unhappy with their homosexuality should be supported in developing their heterosexual potential, where this is the appropriate life choice for them”.
A spokesperson confirmed to PinkNews.co.uk that 26 buses on a handful of routes would carry the ‘Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!’ banner around London for two weeks starting on Monday.
Dr Mike Davidson, Director of Core Issues Trust, said of Stonewall’s original bus advertising: “Their campaign rides roughshod over individuals who by conscience reject the simplistic notion that their choice to move out of homosexuality is because of internalised prejudice taught by society, completely ignoring the profound effect on sexual identity, established by highly respected scientific study, of childhood experience.”
Canon Dr Chris Sugden, Executive Secretary of Anglican Mainstream, added: “The current political debate surrounding the redefinition of marriage ignores not just the cultural base of this institution that lies at the heart of our society, but seems entirely to have forgotten about children, prioritising adult sexualities at their expense in an unprecedented way.”
Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said: “It’s sad that any self-styled “Christian” group promotes voodoo “gay cure therapy”, which has been discredited by the BACP, the UK’s leading professional body for counselling psychotherapists. Life would be much easier if these organisations just admitted that they don’t like gay people.”
Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said that the advertisements “promote a falsehood, the homophobic idea of ‘therapy’ to change the sexual orientation of lesbians and gay men. The adverts are insulting to LGBT Londoners and damaging for everyone who believes London is the greatest city in the world because of it’s tolerance.” He said that he had personally banned advertisements that were discriminatory when he was Mayor. He added: “Under a Conservative mayor we now we have actually anti-gay ads being booked on the buses. The ads should never have been agreed full stop.”
“If elected I will once more overhaul the rules on advertising on London’s transport system so that this can never happen again, and ensure that we revive the progress we made under Labour after the retreat under a Tory administration.
PinkNews.co.uk spoke to Anglican Mainstream’s Reverend Lynda Rose this afternoon who said it was “misleading” to “imply” they did not like gay people, but that the scriptures “prohibit fornication outside marriage”.
She said while people were “free to choose” homosexuality, those with unwanted attraction to people of their own gender should “should be free to seek help if they want”.
She added: “We are all growing and the Bible is a guidebook on how to achieve our full potential […] Being caught up exclusively with sexuality prevents people from reaching that potential.”
PinkNews.co.uk asked Rev Rose about Dr Sugden’s claim that adult sexuality was being “prioritised” at the expense of children and whether this was a scientific or faith-based argument. She said there was “lots of research showing children grow best having father and mother role models”.
Of the suggestion that it is not a widely held view among psychologists that gay couples are unable to provide similarly adequate parenting, Rev Rose said there was a separate, “internal” issue regarding children who are separated from their genetic background.
They may, she said, become “disturbed or damaged” and a gay couple could provide “a loving environment but not the male and female role models we need to determine who we are”.
The Core Issues Trust, which has collaborated with Anglican Mainstream on the bus adverts, was behind the ‘Gay lepers’ conference held earlier this year in Belfast and London. The group said it disagreed with the way leprosy sufferers were shunned in biblical times and compared that with how people with “conflicted in religious and sexual identity” are treated now.
A statement by the Trust ahead of its Belfast conference said it “recognises the fundamental human rights of the LGBT community to live in partnerships that are happy, fulfilled and respected. It acknowledges that Christians have different understandings of the teachings on the bible around human sexuality.
“It reserves the right to offer alternative orthodox views to those who choose to prioritise a religious identity over a sexual identity, or when these identities collide.”
At the time, Professor Andrew Samuels, chair of the UK Council for Psychotherapy said: “Every responsible organisation in the field of psychotherapy, counselling and mental health has expressed extreme concern at the practice of therapy intended to change sexual orientation. Such attempts are profoundly unethical, don’t work, and exploit the undeniable difficulties people from sexual minorities experience in our society.
“It is vital that people don’t get fooled by expressions of love and support for gays and lesbians emanating from the Core Issues Trust.”
